Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

'Hitchhiker : a biography of Douglas Adams'

Procol-oriented extracts from MJ
Simpson's authoritative book (1)

The most famous Procol Harum fan (and the only one to cross
the footlights and perform with the band!) was Douglas Adams, the great British
comic writer, technophile and conservationist. 'Beyond the Pale' wholeheartedly
recommends Palers to buy MJ Simpson's fine, occasionally controversial,
biography of Douglas (not just because we get name-checked!). Click directly on
these links to have your copies delivered from
Amazon Canada,
Amazon UK,
Amazon Germany or
Amazon USA

Curiously, despite being equally enamoured of Python and
the Beatles, Douglas did not enjoy Eric Idle's spoof The Rutles. 'He
thought it was a bit mean-spirited, a little bit unkind,' recalls Beatles expert
Mark Lewisohn. 'I think that maybe tapped into his unease with Eric Idle's
comedy. He liked Neil Innes' music though.'

Douglas' favourite Beatles song was Hey Jude,
though he considered that 'too obvious' for Desert Island Discs and picked
Drive My Car instead, and he made a point of listening to at least one
Beatles album at least once a week. Against all expectations though, his
favourite record wasn't by the Beatles: 'For my money the greatest album ever
made by anybody under any circumstances is Plastic Ono Band.'